Ghana Code Club trains girls in Mobile App Development

Ghana Code Club set out to train 100 girls in mobile app development in a 2-day training program as part of the e-skills for girls program. The training was done in collaboration with Mobile Web Ghana, Leti Arts, ColorCoded and The Exploratory.

The first session of the training came off on Friday when fifty girls were introduced to android app development. On the first day of the training, the girls were taught how to use an MIT app inventor to develop simple Android applications. This is an open-source web application that allows users to create software applications for the Android operating system. Then after, the girls were introduced to different roles that they each had to play in the development process of mobile phone applications. This was aimed to make them understand the needs and requirements of developing an app. Before the end of the first training, the girls were able to familiarise themselves with the following roles; Coder, Analyser, UI Designer and Presenter. The purpose of these roles was to prepare them for their presentation the following day.

Saturday was the set day for the girls to demonstrate what they were taught the previous day. The girls were put into 5 groups and each group was tasked to undertake a project aimed at developing a mobile application that will solve a common societal problem. Below is a list of all the projects that were presented on the last day of the training:

Group One’s project was about curbing road accidents which are sometimes caused by drivers who use their mobile phones while driving. The group developed an app that will read incoming messages of the driver and send an automated reply to the sender without the driver getting involved.

Group two’s project was on helping retailers showcase their products online to the right audience. They developed an app which they named ‘Easy Shop’ that would make it easy for retailers to sell their products and customers buy them by a click of a button at the comfort of their homes.

The project presented by Group three would help people in difficult situations to be able to send text messages immediately there is an emergency. They developed an app where users will be able to send an emergency SMS to a phone contact immediately when one is in a difficult situation, to seek for help.

Group Four’s project was on tackling sanitation. They developed an app that would allow people to contact a cleaning service provider to come and clean up their place at a fee.

The last project presented by Group Five was an app that would help students especially those who find it difficult to read or pronounce words. They developed an app that works by texting back to you, whatever word you read or pronounce that seems difficult.

Each group was able to explain and demonstrate how the app works.

It was a wonderful session when these girls showcased intriguing innovations and presentation skills one could easily feel the teamwork and cooperation that went into each project. The entire event was also a good time for the young ladies to mingle and make new friends who share the same interest as them. The future looks promising with having more girls and women in the tech industry.